1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facility system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-127712 (JP 5-127712 A) describes a device in which a plurality of processing machines include respective programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and the PLCs are connected to each other through a network. The PLC performs control (independent control) of operation of the processing machine alone, and performs control (mutual control, e.g. interlock control) of operation based on the relationship with another processing machine. That is, the PLC which is mounted on the processing machine is connected to the PLC which is mounted on another processing machine through the network.
An industrial network for use in facilities that include a plurality of processing machines is generally formed as a network that is unique to each company. Examples of the industrial network include PROFINET (registered trademark), MECHATROLINK (registered trademark), CC-Link (registered trademark), EtherCAT (registered trademark), and SERCOS (registered trademark). In the related art, a particular type of network is selected as the industrial network which connects between the plurality of PLCs. That is, different industrial networks are not connected to each other.
Multiple types of production lines are occasionally installed in a factory. In such a case, a plurality of processing machines that constitute an individual production line are connected to each other through an industrial network of the same type. However, processing machines that constitute different production lines use different types of networks, and therefore are not connected to each other.
Standalone gateways that connect different industrial networks to each other have been developed in recent years. This gateway can transmit and receive I/O data between two industrial networks. This gateway also operates as a slave for a CC-Link network, for example, and has a function as an I/O device for PROFINET on a PROFINET network. Use of this gateway allows mutual processing by connecting processing machines that constitute different production lines to each other.
In order to perform mutual control of a plurality of processing machines connected to each other through different networks, it is necessary to change the settings of respective PLCs mounted on the processing machines. However, the PLCs include information (programs and various data) for performing independent control in addition to information (programs and various data) for performing mutual control as described above. Therefore, it is not easy to change the settings of the PLCs. That is, the settings of the PLCs cannot be changed by anyone but a worker that also grasps the settings for performing independent control for the processing machines.